Sheffield United: No guarantees for Baxter

James Shield

Sheffield United manager Nigel Adkins has pointedly refused to offer Jose Baxter any guarantees about his involvement in tomorrow’s FA Cup tie against Oldham Athletic.

Baxter was disciplined by club officials on Wednesday following an incident, which reportedly took place during a social event, last weekend.

Although The Star understands the matter is not the subject of any external investigations, Adkins could refuse to select the midfielder for the second-round fixture after insisting he would be “consistent” when reminding players of their responsibilities.

Che Adams was forced to miss United’s League One fixture at Burton Albion in September after failing to adhere to Adkins’ code of conduct.

“I have dealt with the situation, and when the team is selected, Oldham will be the first to know who are they playing against,” Adkins said. “I will pick the team I want to win the weekend’s game.

“We have dealt with it internally. Discipline is high on my agenda, you are well aware of that.

You have seen me deal with players already since I have been here. We deal with it in-house, as a football club, and we move on.”

Baxter joined United from Athletic in 2013 and has scored four goals in his previous seven outings. But a leg injury meant the 23-year-old was unavailable for selection when United drew 1-1 with Barnsley six days ago

Adkins added: “He (Baxter) still at the football club. First and foremost we have to get Jose Baxter back on the field of play doing what he is good at, which is passing the football, creating opportunities, and scoring goals.”